Vladimir the Great

Vladimir the Great (958-15 July 1015) was Prince of Novgorod from 969 to 977 (succeeding Sviatoslav I and preceding Yaropolk I) and Grand Prince of Kievan Rus from 11 June 980 to 15 July 1015 (succeeding Yaropolk I and preceding Sviatopolk I). In 988, he converted to Orthodox Christianity, leading to the Christianization of Russia.

Biography
Vladimir was born in 958, the son of Grand Prince Sviatoslav I of Kiev and his housekeeper and prophetess Malusha, and he was named Prince of Novgorod in 969 while his legitimate brother Yaropolk ruled over Kiev. After the Pechenegs murdered Yaroslav in 972, the two brothers fought in 976, and Vladimir fled to his kinsman Haakon Sigurdsson, King of Norway, collecting Norse warriors to help him recover Novgorod. In 978, he marched against Yaropolk, and he took Rogneda of Polotsk as his wife after attacking Polotsk, slaying her father Rogvolod, and forcing her to marry him; the capture of Polotsk and Smolensk facilitated Vladimir's capture of Kiev that same year. Yaropolk was then slain by treacher, and Vladimir became Knyaz of Kievan Rus in 980. In 981, he seized the Cherven towns from the Poles, and he went to war with several of his neighbors, planting fortresses and colonies along the way. He took 800 concubines and numerous wives during his reign, erecting pagan statues and shrines to gods. However, the neighboring monotheistic powers pressured Vladimir to convert to their faiths, and Vladimir sent out envoys to research the religions; the Muslim Volga Bulgars were unappealing due to their squalid living conditions and their prohibitions of alcohol and pork, he saw the fall of Jerusalem as proof of Judaism's abandonment by God, and he heard of the wonders of the Orthodox Christian city of Constantinople, which was compared to Heaven. In 988, Vladimir decided to convert to Christianity, and he married Emperor Basil II of Byzantium's sister Anna Porphyrogenita after his baptism at Chersonesos. He then formed a great council of boyars and sent out his twelve sons to govern his principalities; in 991, he founded the city of Belgorod. In 992, Vladimir campaigned against the Croats in Ukraine, but Pecheneg attacks on Kiev cut his campaign short. In 1014, he died before he could force his son Yaroslav the Wise to pay tribute to him.